Seamstress Dawn here! Didn't I promise you? Well, the day is finally here. I set up my brand new sewing machine on my new, vintage desk (which incidentally needs to be refinished...)
Here is a close-up of the new baby! She is a Kenmore beauty, exact same as Becky's.
And here are some of the fabrics that I have been collecting...more to come! Oh glorious Etsy!
And now...a tutorial! A reusable shopping tote made from two pillowcases! If you have trouble understanding/following my directions, I do apologize as this is the first time I have tutored! Just ask me questions!
Sew(heehee), first I made a pattern out of regular paper...(roll from Michael's craft store)drawing a general shape of the bag. It is approximately 15 inches across the bottom, 13 inches up the side, 5 inches in and another 13-15 inches up the strap. (Turns out, this bag isn't huge so feel free to adjust your measurements)
Now dig deep into your closets, for some old but in good-condition pillowcases. If you are so inclined, you can scour second hand shops for cases, maybe you can find some great vintage patterns! You need 2 pillowcases, one is for the lining of the bag and one is for the outside of the bag. I have used an orange pillowcase for the outside, and a green one for the lining.
If you like, you can make a pocket for the inside of the bag like I did. Totally optional though. I like to have a place for my keys & phone...I used a piece of fabric that makes up the outside of the bag for contrast. I used the top edge/scrap from the pillow case, cuz it's already finished so nicely...then you just have to finish the 3 edges.
Ok, you can sew that pocket to a RIGHT side piece of your lining (green).
Now we are going to start on the two sides of the bag. Take one of each colour of material and place them RIGHT sides together.One orange, one green. Sew along the 5 inch part, up along the handle, down around the other side and over the other 5 inch bit. DO NOT sew down the sides or the bottom of the bag yet.
Once you have stitched each set of two, clip along the edge of the part you just sewed. About an a half-inch apart & close to your stitching. Be careful though not to clip your stiches. This technique helps a curvy seam turn inside out smoothly & cleanly.
Now turn it inside out so that you can see your RIGHT sides. At this point I suggest ironing it so your seams are nice and flat. After that, you are going to do a topstich over the part you have just sewn. A topstich is great for reinforcement, but primarily, it looks nice, the edges look crisp & finished.
Almost done! Now take your two pieces and place them RIGHT sides (orange) together. You are ready to sew down the sides and along the bottom.
A nice touch to "puff" out your bag is to "box" the corners. I admit, my corners once the bag was finished aren't as lovely as I had hoped but....Sew a line across each bottom corner of your bag like so...
and then clip into your corners like so
Go ahead, you may turn your bag inside out. It should look like a bag! Does it???? I am a bit of an ironing freak if you must know, so I now suggest again, ironing your bag and it's seams for a clean crisp look.
To finish off the handles, you can either tie it hanker-chief style (provided you made them long enough), you can overlap a piece and sew it together. You can then decorate that with a button. OR you can do as I did (poorly I might add...) sew on an actual button...make a proper button hole & button that sucker up!
VOILA! A reusable shopping tote! Save your pattern, don't throw it out! Here are a few photos of our little project. Aside from my time, which was all FUN, this project cost me about 3 dollars (two secondhand pillowcases & thread).
I'm pretty stoked that I made this, after years of not sewing. I absolutely, 110% enjoy sewing! Oh I'm so glad! Would I have done anything differently? Sure, I would have finished the inside seams a bit better, maybe just a zigzag to keep it tidy looking. And fill my bobbin more...My plate is see-thru....and I could see the bobbin rapidly UNfilling as I worked....thank goodness it didn't run out!
I hope you found this tutorial useful & fun! Drop me a line or a pic if you attempt it! Happy Sewing!
